Visiting any country in the Arab-speaking world is a great holiday destination, filled with fascinating sights to see and wonderful culture to immerse yourself in. However, a lot of this great culture you will only be able to properly experience (if at all) with some mastery of the Arabic language.
Depending on how soon your trip is, you may or may not have time to learn much of the language properly, in which case having some handy words and phrases on hand can be a lifesaver.
It’s very difficult to know exactly what language you’re going to need to cover all the possible situations you might encounter, but hopefully, we will go over some of the most likely ones you will need here.
What are some basic Arabic phrases for tourists?
Naturally, some phrases are pretty fundamental to communicating in any language, and Arabic is a language like any other in this sense. You will still need your fundamental building blocks of conversation, your hellos, thank yous, and so on.
To that end, we will now go over some useful Arabic phrases for travellers, including both how to say them and how they are written. These are some of the most useful to remember!
How do you say hello in Arabic?
There are lots of ways to say hello to Arabic language speakers, depending on the formality of the situation and who they are addressing, but fortunately, if you don’t know any of these there is still a standard one.
If you don’t know which specific hello a situation calls for, you can just say “ahlan”, which literally translates to hello. You would write this as “أهلا”, which luckily is relatively simple to write compared to some other Arabic phrases!
How do you say goodbye in Arabic?
Just as important as being able to cordially greet someone is how to cordially say goodbye. Politeness is very important in Arabic culture, so being able to properly end a conversation is a very useful thing. As with hello, there are lots of different ways of doing this depending on the situation.
Much of Arabic uses differing languages for more and less formal situations, with some languages that you can use for both. In the case of saying goodbye, the most common way, which you can use in both formal and informal situations, is “maa alsalama”.
This most literally translates to goodbye, and would be written as “مع السلامة”.
How do you say, do you speak English in Arabic?
When you’re in a foreign country, it is almost inevitable that you eventually find a situation where you can’t express yourself or what you want in the local language.
Sometimes, the only way you can find to convey your meaning is in English, which means you need to ask the person you are talking to if they speak it. In Arabic, the way to say this is by asking “hal tatahdath alenglizia?” which literally translates to “do you speak English?”.
In written form, that would be “هل تتحدث الإنجليزية؟”. There’s no shame in asking, and most people will likely appreciate that you made the effort of trying. People don’t mind tourists as long as the tourists are respectful, a lost art in modern times!
How do you say yes and no in Arabic?
Fortunately, when it comes to how to say yes and no in Arabic, you don't need to worry about different words for different levels of formality. They are just as simple in Arabic as they are in English, and you’ll probably hear them a lot, so being familiar with them is good.
To say yes in Arabic you say “naam”, and to say no you just say “la”. They are both very simple to write as well, with “naam” being written as “نعم”, and “la” being written “لا”. If all else fails, knowing how to say yes and no can sometimes get you far!
What are some useful Arabic phrases for travellers who need help?
Part of the adventure of travel is that not everything goes according to plan. Things happen, often out of your control, that you have to be prepared to handle. Sometimes, handling these things involves talking to the locals and asking them for help.
To that end, we will now go over some good Arabic expressions to know when travelling for when you need help in some capacity.
How do you say please in Arabic?
Being able to say please when asking for something is a vitally important part of being a respectful tourist in an Arabic country. There are quite a few ways to go about it, but the way that you are likely to hear most often is saying “men fadlak”.
This is the most literal translation of please, and as such probably the one you will find yourself wanting to use the most. In written form, it is “من فضلك”.
How do you say thank you in Arabic?
As we know, politeness is a very important part of Arabic conversation, and when asking for anything in Arabic you will probably want to say thank you. The most basic and common form of this is very generally applicable to both more and less formal situations.
To say thank you in Arabic, you would say “shokran”, although there are a great many ways to say thank you in Arabic. This particular way of saying thank you is the most common though, and is written in Arabic script as “شكراً”.
How do you say, can you help me in Arabic?
The simplest way to ask for help as a tourist is exactly that, asking for help. This may of course vary depending on exactly what it is you are asking for, but in general, if you just need to get someone’s attention, there is a simple way of doing this.
A standard way to ask someone for help would be to ask “hal yomkinak mossaadaty?”. This literally translates to “Can you help me”, and is a good way to open conversation with someone to let them know you need help. If you want to write it down, it is written as “هل يمكنك مساعدتي؟”.
How to say I am lost in Arabic
It’s bound to happen to everyone eventually, whether or not you think it will. Getting lost in a foreign country is a terrifying prospect, but knowing how to tell one of the locals you are lost is the first step back to safety.
Especially if you are stuck somewhere without a map, this can be one of the single most useful things to know how to say. In Arabic, the translation of I am lost is “ana ta’h”, which you can write as “أنا تائه”. The usual follow-up knowledge to this is how to say how do I get to in Arabic, which again is luckily quite simple.
The translation for this is “kaif azhab ela [...]”. Written down, you would write “[...] كيف أذهب إلى”. Substituting in the name of the place you want to go, hopefully, this combination can get you to your destination even when your map can’t!
How to say where can I get a taxi in Arabic
Sometimes when you just get completely lost, or miss your bus, or are running late, or any other number of situations, you just need a taxi. That's when knowing basic Arabic for travel comes in handy. Someone with the local knowledge and a car to get you from point A to point B as fast as possible, no questions asked.
It is in these exact situations that the indomitable taxicab comes into its own, but they are not always the easiest to find! While they will generally be well advertised, knowing where to look to find them is still helpful.
In Arabic, to find this out, you would ask “ayna yomkinani al hosool ala sayara ojra?”. Should you for whatever reason need to write this down, it is written in Arabic script as “أين يمكنني الحصول على سيارة أجرة؟”.
In reality, the beauty of travel is that you never quite know what adventures you are going to face. However, this also means you are never going to quite know what you will need to say!
To this end, the best thing to do is have a good familiarity with as much of the language as possible, far more than what any number of cheat sheets can provide. Learning the language is the best way to prepare yourself, then, but learning languages can be notoriously difficult.
This is where tutoring can be your lifeline. Tutoring is well known to be the most effective way to learn any language, and Superprof offers a wide range of tutors to fulfil this role.
Tutoring allows you not only to learn the language in the way that makes the most sense to you, but also gives you ample opportunity to practise conversational skills. These skills are some of the most important parts of language learning that can otherwise be very hard to train.
Tutors on Superprof are all masters of the language in their own right, offering a variety of teaching styles to suit your learning style. And with many of them offering their first lesson for free to let you work out which tutor is the right one for you, there’s never been a better time to start learning!
Enjoyed this article? Leave a rating!
Loading...
